


Blair's Spidey Sense

by franscats



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 01:09:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3831562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/franscats/pseuds/franscats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair thinks back about a case that involved interdepartmental cooperation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blair's Spidey Sense

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for Sentinel Thursday Challenge # 500 which had five prompts: memory, police, anthropology, senses and danger.

Blair Sandburg glanced over the titles in the latest anthropology journal. The issue seemed to be devoted to various policing agencies. There was an article entitled, “Looking Again at the Thin Blue Line,” another titled, “The Evolving Role of Police Departments in the Computer Age,” and finally, “Interdepartmental Cooperation, How Law Enforcement Agencies Interact.”

Blair shook his head considering the last title; cooperation and interdepartmental agencies didn’t always mix well, sometimes it got off track. Thinking back, he allowed his memory to go over every detail of one of Jim’s recent cases. He knew he should stop thinking about the case, but he had come very close to exploding in the middle of the bullpen and decking the newly minted Captain of the Burglary Division.

The case involved a street gang targeting wealthy homes. At first, the case was given to Burglary. They were investigating the break-ins, but then the gang had upped the ante deliberately damaging homes. Finally, they had moved on to assault, targeting houses even when occupants were home. It was when the assaults started that Major Crimes was brought in to the investigation for fear that the gang might escalate to murder.

Simon had assigned Jim the case since Jim was friends with some of the detectives in Burglary and had worked with the other division in the past. Unfortunately, that hadn’t worked out too well. The friends Jim did have in Burglary were gone. They had moved on to other departments and positions when the Captain of Burglary, Steve Harris, a thirty year veteran of the force, retired. The new Captain of the Burglary Division, Joe Danner, was more an administrator than cop. He hadn’t come up through the ranks the way Steve Harris had. His rise had to do with his connections, namely his sister, the Mayor’s wife. Wanting to prove and make a name for himself, he bulldozed his way through the case, mishandling personnel and investigations. When Major Crimes was pulled into the case he fumed thinking they might receive some credit when the case was cracked. So, Danner handed Major Crimes the worst parts of the investigation where little or no information would be found, snarling loudly that Major Crimes wasn’t pulling its weight. He even tried to blame Jim for the lack of progress.

To ensure that Burglary got the credit for the collar, Danner insisted Jim turn over all evidence he found but didn’t return the favor. He did not let his detectives share any information uncovered about gangs, all the while complaining that Jim should never have been picked as Cop of the Year since he was obviously incompetent. Worse yet, he expected Jim to do all the legwork for him and his detectives.

Closing his eyes and shuddering, Blair remembered when Danner insisted that Jim go to the gang’s hangout and interrogate biker, Ironman Spanner...

_Ironman Spanner was the leader of the Devils and by all accounts a nasty bastard with no respect for law or authority figures. He had been in a holding cell in California when the first three houses were robbed giving him an airtight alibi and he insisted his gang wouldn’t try something like that without him, so his gang wasn’t responsible for the break-ins._

_Jim believed him and told Blair he was not a suspect and they needed to look at other gangs. Danner didn’t agree. Blair guessed Danner wanted the Devils, a large and infamous group, to be the culprits. It would increase the publicity when the case was solved. Angry that Jim was trying to look at other gangs, Danner insisted that Jim reinterview Spanner at the Devil’s Clubhouse._

_Blair, who had been running a check on another gang, grabbed his coat when Jim started out to “waste time” interviewing Spanner but Jim shook his head._

_“Detectives Ender and Simms from Burglary are meeting me at the clubhouse and I’ll call for uniform backup if I need it. I’d rather you finish checking out the Raiders. I think they might be involved. They’re new on the scene and want to make a name for themselves.” Jim and paused and sighed and then lowering his voice added, “The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can forget about Danner.”_

_Blair hadn’t liked the idea of Jim going without him, but he nodded his agreement. “Be careful, man,” he whispered as he sat back down in front of Jim’s terminal._

_Jim smiled, ruffling Blair’s hair before heading out._

_Half an hour later, Captain Danner and Detectives Ender and Simms walked into the Major Crimes bullpen. Blair looked up waiting for Jim to enter but Jim didn’t follow them in. Frowning, Blair walked over. “Where’s Jim?” he asked. Enders and Simms looked at him, their expressions showing their confusion at the question as Danner smirked. “You were meeting him at the clubhouse,” Blair added._

_“What are you talking about?” Enders asked._

_“Jim told me you were meeting him to interview Ironman Spanner.”_

_“Captain Danner told us the interview was canceled,” Simms stated as the rest of the bullpen took notice of the conversation, turning and watching the detectives and Captain from Burglary. Rhonda, an extremely competent secretary, quietly stood and opened Captain Banks’ door, beckoning him out._

_“What do you mean the interview was canceled?” Blair’s voice rose an octave. Blair didn’t have Jim’s enhanced senses but after working with Jim for two years he had developed what he called his “Spidey Sense.” Like the comic book character Spiderman, Blair could sometimes sense danger and his senses began to tingle as he stared at the three men from Burglary. Something was definitely wrong._

_“Well, I figured,” Danner began in his most condescending, snide voice, “if he’s Cop of the Year he should be able to handle a few bikers by himself.”_

_“You sent Jim with no backup,” Blair snarled, pushing past Enders and Simms to stand before Danner, his hands balling into fists._

_Danner was four inches taller than Blair, outweighed him by at least forty pounds and carried a gun, but he took a step back seeing the look on Blair’s face. “Are you trying to get Jim killed?” Blair continued pushing into Danner’s personal space as Banks came out of his office and moved to separate the men. Signaling to Rafe and Brown, Banks pulled Blair back. “Sandburg, go with Rafe and Brown and make sure Jim is alright.”_

_Taking a deep breath, Blair turned and nodded before pushing, a bit more violently than necessary, past Danner who staggered back against a desk as Blair went out the door. The last thing he heard as he left was Banks, his voice clipped, inviting Danner into his office for a private chat._

_Jim was standing in front of the Devil’s clubhouse when Blair, Rafe and Brown pulled up, Blair jumping out immediately to stand beside his partner. “Hey, Chief,” Jim stated, nodding to Rafe and Brown._

_“Everything okay here, Jim?” Rafe asked._

_Jim nodded. “When Enders and Simms didn’t show, I did a bit of reconnaissance. Spanner isn’t there right now, so I’m not disobeying Danner’s order,” Jim smiled. “But when I was looking around the outside of the clubhouse I did overhear a conversation and think I have a lead on the burglaries.”_

_“What did you overhear?” Blair asked raising an eyebrow, aware that Jim had probably listened in on the gang’s entire conversation._

_“The Devil’s think the Raiders are responsible and the Raiders are setting up a clubhouse on Columbia Street.”_

_“Maybe, we should keep an eye on the Raiders,” Brown suggested._

_“Let’s call Simon and then we can scout out the group,” Jim answered…_

Blair glanced over the anthropology article again thinking how the case ended. By the end of the day, without input from Danner, who had his men watching the Devils, the partners from Major Crimes: Jim and Blair, Brown and Rafe, staked out and caught the Raiders entering a pawnshop carrying some of the items stolen from one of the houses. They had arrested all six members of the gang and charged them with breaking and entering, possession of stolen goods and assault.

Danner had been furious when Major Crimes got credit for the capture. He had stormed into Major Crimes and up to Jim’s desk where he started screaming about insubordination. Simon, who was in his office with the Deputy Commissioner, walked out and demanded that Danner get out of Major Crimes until he could control himself.

Officially, Burglary and Major Crimes were both credited with the resolution of the case but after Banks spoke with Danner on the day Danner deliberately sent Jim into a dangerous situation without backup, he called the Deputy Commissioner for a meeting. It was Danner’s bad luck that he stormed in screaming while the Deputy Commissioner was visiting, and later that day Simon had a meeting with the Commissioner and Mayor. Danner was given a review and it was decided Burglary was not a good fit for him and he was moved from Burglary to the Animal Control Division.

Once again interagency cooperation was restored.


End file.
